She gave her country 50 years of service, then gave a medical school her body
After decades of service to a South Gyeongsang community, Gong Do-yeon and her husband donated their bodies to support medical education.
Gong Do-yeon in an undated photograph taken during her lifetime.
UIRYEONG COUNTY
A woman who spent more than half a century volunteering in South Gyeongsang donated her body to a medical school when she died, and last week her ashes were laid to rest beside her husband's.
Gong Do-yeon, known for her extensive volunteer work in Uiryeong, and her husband, Park Hyo-jin, were cremated together on Friday at Allak Park in Jinju, South Gyeongsang, Uiryeong County said Tuesday. Their ashes were placed side by side in the memorial hall for body donors at Gyeongsang National University's College of Medicine, where they will remain for 30 years.
Gong died on Sept. 13, 2023, at the age of 82. Her will instructed her family to donate her body to a medical school, and they did. Her husband, who died in 2022, said the same while he was alive, and his body went to the same university.
Both bodies were used in anatomy classes for medical students and in faculty research until the end of last month. They were cremated last week, nearly three years after Gong died.
"Body donation is a noble act of giving that greatly supports medical education and the advancement of medicine," said Kang Yune-sik, dean of the college. "Her wish has provided a valuable foundation for training future medical professionals."
Gong had been volunteering for more than 50 years by the time she died. From her 30s, she led the local branch of the Saemaul women's association, part of the New Village Movement, a government campaign to modernize rural villages. She helped bring a simple water supply to her village and improve its roofs.
In 1985, with residents short of medical facilities, she bought 225 square meters (2,422 square feet) of land and handed it to Uiryeong County. The Songsan health clinic was built on the site.
She also shared the crops she grew and the money she earned from trading with neighbors who were struggling. The work brought her some 60 commendations, and in 2020 she received the Seongnyu Medal, the fifth class of the Order of Civil Merit.
"She spent her life giving to her neighbors and carried that spirit of service through to the very end," Uiryeong County Mayor Oh Tae-wan said. "We will remember her unwavering love for her neighbors for a long time."
BY KIM JI-HYE [cho.yongjun1@joongang.co.kr]
This article was originally written in Korean and translated by a bilingual reporter with the help of generative AI tools. It was then edited by a native English-speaking editor. All AI-assisted translations are reviewed and refined by our newsroom.
